The Roots Of Chicha Vol. 2

The Roots Of Chicha Vol. 2

In the late 1960s, a number of Peruvian guitarists from<br>Lima and the Amazon created a new electric hybrid that<br>mixed cumbia with surf, Cuban guaracha, rock, Peruvian<br>folklore, and psychedelic touches. This new wave of<br>Peruvian cumbia came to be known as chicha. Scorned<br>by the middle-class and the official tastemakers, chicha<br>remained mostly associated with the slums of Lima, where<br>the ever-growing population of Andean migrants embraced<br>the music. Three years ago Barbès released the first<br>volume of The Roots of Chicha, which created converts<br>worldwide from Franz Ferdinand and Elijah Wood to<br>the New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, The BBC, and El<br>Comercio. The second volume in the series showcases<br>11 more bands, with 16 tracks recorded between 1968<br>and 1981. This album is not exactly a sequel; it s more<br>an attempt to rectify some of the biases and inaccuracies<br>of the first volume by incorporating some lesser-known<br>bands. This is cumbia at its best music at once familiar<br>and exotic, rooted in the changing sounds fostered by the<br>worldwide musical revolution that took place in the late<br> 60s but still remaining oddly timeless.